Sick baby

This weekend we intended on being very productive, but all our plans were put on hold because Miss Elliott got sick. She was a little hoarse on Friday, but on Saturday, she developed a full blown croupy cough which of course sounds TERRIBLE, a snotty nose, and a low grade fever. We were planning on going to a pumpkin patch/corn maze with some people from church but it was pretty obvious at the beginning of the day, that was not going to happen. We had a forced rest, which was actually kind of nice, but would have been nicer if she wouldn't have been sick. We got to watch lots of Blue's Clues.

I HATE to see Elliott sick. It truly hurts my heart, and I would gladly take the illness on myself if I could. She has not been sick very often, and I am so thankful for that, but every time she does get sick, I kind of amaze myself at how poorly I respond. All my medical training goes out the window, I can't seem to think straight, I just hurt for her. It gives me a perspective at how difficult it must be on a parent for their child to be diagnosed with a chronic illness, or even something just more serious than a virus....to have to spend days, weeks, months in the hospital hoping and praying their child will get better. I don't know how they do it. We have 2 days where Elliott can't breath well, and I turn into a complete basket case. It also reminds me of how thankful I am for each and every day we get to spend with our precious daughter. She is truly a blessing from God!

I guess I feel emotional tonight. Can I just blame it on the pregnancy? :) So I feel like we're entering the week a little off, and Elliott and I are actually flying to Oklahoma...by ourselves...on Thursday. I'm just praying she is feeling better by then. I'm having flashbacks of our trip to Florida. A wonderful trip but I swore I wouldn't take another trip without Kev. Oh how quickly I forgot apparently.

I thought I would share a few pics of our other "child."

Truman with his splint.

Notice how much blue wrap is missing...hence the cone. Truman was not a fan, Elliott thought it was awesome.

Here is a picture of what it looks like now. Notice the gray blob attached to his right leg (it kind of looks like an extra appendage or something). That is what he has to wear for 8 weeks. It kind of reminds me of putty and you can see the screws poking into it. He licks it obsessively, which is slightly annoying (especially to Kev), but it's really hard to get him to stop. Oh the drama in our lives. :)

I'll leave you with this...because it's basically the cutest picture EVER! My two most favorite people!

Visitors and injuries

Life has been a little crazy at our household recently, evidenced by the my lack of posts. Kev had fall break last week so he was off the ENTIRE week. It was amazing! Definitely a perk of being in school again. Of course I was not off for fall break, but it was nice because he got to watch Miss Elliott all week. Then his parents came for a long weekend visit. We had so much fun showing them around our new "home," sharing some delicious Irish pub food together, and we laughed a lot.

Fun shot on campus. The gold dome is in the background.

Kev did a grandparents "photo shoot" on campus. Elliott *kind of* cooperated. Story of our life.

He got some cute pictures of E too.

Another thing that made this past week a little crazy is we had a major family injury. Kev and I went on a walk on Friday while Elliott was napping (Kev's parents stayed with her), and we decided we would take Truman so he could get a little exercise. Truman does not do the best on the leash, and so a lot of time we'll let him run off the leash and he does really well to stay with us. We were almost home, when a squirrel darted out across the street and Truman ran after him. A car just happened to be driving down the street at that exact time, and we watched in horror and complete helplessness as Truman got clipped by the car. It all happened in an instant, and it was terrible! Thankfully, he didn't go under the car, and as soon as he got hit he ran off the road. So to make a long story short, he broke 2 bones in his front leg, one bone went through the skin, he had to be put in a splint and then he had surgery Monday where they placed 6 pins in his bones. He'll have the pins removed in 8 weeks. They told us to make sure he doesn't run or jump and try to keep him calm. Really? They obviously don't know our dog. So that's all the excitement in our household. I'll try to do better about posting though.

The pacifier debate

I survived my first week at work! Yay! Actually, it went very smoothly. Everyone that I work with is extremely nice and helpful, and everything with childcare went great. I'm so thankful! The hardest thing about working was packing our lunches the night before. I have GOT to get more creative with what I pack for Elliott. Pretty sure peanut butter sandwiches are only going to work for so long. I feel like she has gotten a little more picky lately (I promise I'm not complaining), and she used to be better at eating more fruits and veggies. Lately, she will eat grapes, apple sauce, and maybe an occasional green bean. I think I'm going to have to become more sneaky at incorporating vegetables. The funny/annoying thing is if I put anything on her tray that she doesn't want, she quickly tosses it off. I hear ya loud and clear, Elliott, you don't like that. I always feel like it is her emphatic way of telling me, "I don't even want to look at the food, Mommy. Something better please."

Our big dilemma lately is when to take away the loved/hated pacifier. Weaning her from breastfeeding was a breeze, taking away bottles a cinch, but I literally cringe every time I think about taking her pacifier away. She has loved her pacifier from the beginning which has been a blessing/curse. I have been SO thankful for it many times, and always hated it just as many times. Lately, if she doesn't want to take a nap, she throws it out of her crib and then she definitely won't go to sleep. Drives.me.crazy. I also feel like taking it away will help her sleep better because there are definitely times she wakes up and I think she starts crying if she can't find it.

Originally, we had October as our goal month. In our thinking, she would be transitioned from the move, but then be without the pacifier long enough before the new baby comes to hopefully not regress. October seemed so far away when we made the plans, but now it's here...and the month is already half way over. This weekend is probably the best weekend to take it away because Kev is off all next week for fall break, but I keep second guessing myself. Is it really that important that we take it away now? Maybe we'll just prolong the sleepless nights, mental agony, crying child, until she's at least two. But I definitely don't think it will get any easier so why not just do it now. Oh the decisions. I can't decide if I should throw all her pacifiers (we're down to 3 anyway) away so I can't second guess myself, but then I may be sending Kev to Walmart at midnight to get a pacifier. Why can't this be easier?

Chicago

Oh Chicago. I must say you exceeded my expectations. I know much of that was due to the amazing company, perfect weather, and beautiful Fall colors, but I will happily visit you again and hopefully soon.

So like I said in my last post, we had such a wonderful time in Chicago over the weekend with our sweet friends David and Anna. David was an incredible tour guide since evidently he had been there with his family quite a few times. I actually lived outside of Chicago for a year when I was like 5 years old, and the only thing I really remember about the city was the aquarium which we visited when we first came. I really wanted to explore more but never really knew where to start. This weekend was the perfect start of our exploration of Chicago.

We started off the day with deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno. One word...AMAZING. Probably not the healthiest choice but totally worth the calories. We made up for the unhealthy meal by walking a ton.

Cute family pic!

We loved seeing "The Bean" in Millennium Park. It is made of 168 stainless steel plates welded together but there is no visible seems. It was pretty amazing.

Looking up in the middle of "The Bean."

Had to take a slightly awkward belly pic. Anna is almost two weeks behind me in her pregnancy. I LOVE that we get to be pregnant together, I just wish we still lived close.

The bean with "The Bean." She loved it...really.

We got to enjoy some delicious coffee at Intelligentsia. Yummy lattes. Aren't they pretty too?

We can't get enough of these Fall leaves!

I also made some great purchases at H&M to help extend my work wardrobe. It was a perfect day just entirely to short. Thanks again for visiting us David and Anna! Let's start planning for next year.

Friends for the weekend

We had an amazing weekend with friends visiting from Oklahoma! We felt so blessed that they would take time out of their busy schedules to come see us. It was such a fun, refreshing weekend. They got here late Friday night, then we sent Saturday just hanging around South Bend...walking around campus, watching OU beat Texas (what better weekend to have fellow Sooner fans in town??), showing them our favorite spots, and just catching up. Then we had a glorious day in Chicago on Sunday. I don't have time tonight to write an adequate post on our amazing day in Chicago so I'm saving it for tomorrow...and I have lots of pictures. Here is just a small taste.

My lunch is made, purse is packed, outfit laid out...tomorrow's the big day. My first day back at work. It's hard to imagine getting out of the door by 7 when that's usually what time I'm lazily eating breakfast and drinking coffee. Let's just say it *might* be a small adjustment. That mixed with the fact of dressing up again. Don't get me wrong, there is a part of me that likes to dress up...just not the part of me that is pregnant. A little more difficult feeling cute in dress clothes. Oh how I miss you scrubs. Lord give me strength!

Napping dilemma

We have been having some issues with Elliott's napping lately and I am completely worn out trying to figure it all out. She has always been a fantastic sleeper, which I know is not the case with all babies. So for a while she has gone to bed at 7:30 or 8, sleeps until around 7, then takes two 1.5-2 hour naps. Don't get me wrong...I'm SO thankful for her sleeping habits, but I think I was spoiled.

Ever since she started walking, I feel like she basically decided she really didn't want to nap anymore. I assumed it would be the opposite...it made sense to me that she would be MORE tired when she started walking. BABIES NEVER MAKE SENSE. Remember that Lacey. As soon as you think you are in control and have it all figured out, they totally mix things up. I think they just want to mess with their poor Mama's mind. Lately, every nap is a battle. I usually try to put her down about 10 and then again at 2 or so. I don't want to lay her down too late in the evening because then she doesn't want to go to bed. Call me selfish, but I need my evenings to recuperate, people. We go through the same rituals we always have when I lay her down (give her her pacifier, read her a couple books, hold her for 5 minutes or so), but she cries EVERY time I lay her down. On a good day, it's just a cry of protest as I leave but then she falls asleep. On a bad day, it's full out screaming like I'm trying to torture her by putting her in her crib. She has yet to fall asleep when she starts really screaming.

I have had two theories: 1. I have not let her get tired enough, or 2. I let her get too tired. Both seem to make no difference. So then I started thinking, maybe she is ready for just one nap, even though everything I have read said that 14 months is a little young to drop down to one nap. This would make sense, except for the fact that when she doesn't get two naps, she is SO grumpy and EXTREMELY dramatic. Every fall, taken away object, or you name it is the end.of.the.world. Imagine dramatic crying and laying on the ground. She obviously is tired. When I can't handle the drama any more, I end up rocking to her, singing to her, anything to try to make her fall asleep, which she usually does.

I feel kind of at my whit's end. I was reassured by this post that we're not alone in these sleeping issues. Anyone with young kids have any thoughts or recommendations?

A new job

So I officially start my new job on Monday. I actually accepted the job about a month ago, but it has taken that long to get my Indiana license and get credentialed with the hospital. I am SO tired of paperwork. It has been especially irritating because most of the documents I need are in Oklahoma, so I have spent LOTS of time on the phone. So much fun, I assure you.

I feel very blessed to have found this job. I will be working at the hospital that is about a mile from our house, everyone I have met so far is extremely kind and friendly, and they are letting me work part time (20 hours, 2 & 1/2 days). I feel like I have so many conflicting emotions as this new endeavor starts...excitement, nervousness, sadness.

I don't love always love change...starting all over...and I feel like we have experienced so much change so far. Now I get to experience change in the arena of my job. Miss E and I have our little daily routines so it's hard to think about disrupting that, but I feel like our time apart will probably make me appreciate the time we have together. It's also hard to know I'm starting something completely new knowing I'll be taking a "break" when I go on maternity leave here in 3 months or so. I also never feel completely "normal" when I'm pregnant, so I'm meeting all these new people feeling not *quite* like myself.

I know it will be good when I can just get started instead of waiting and overthinking it. BUT...it's sure going to be difficult leaving this sweet girl!